by Roshen Dalal
Most of the other rivers in this region seem to be western tributaries of the Indus, extending into Afghanistan.
The Arjikiya has been variously identified; though Yaska identified it with the Beas, its most probable location is in south-east Afghanistan. Arjika and Arjikiya probably are a people or land, also mentioned in the Rig Veda. The river may be the Arghesan, which rises in the Sulaiman range, and after joining the Dori, flows into the Tarnak; or it could be the Tarnak, a tributary of the Arghandab, which rises north-west of Ghazni (Afghanistan) and flows south-west into the Helmand. The road from Kandahar to the Gomal Pass runs, for some time, along the Arghesan. The Dori rises on the western slopes of the Kohjak Pass, on the road from Quetta to Kandahar.
The Krumu, Kubha, and Gomati are identified with the Kurum, Kabul, and Gomal, western tributaries of the Indus, though the Gomati is also a tributary of the Ganga. There are three references to it and some have suggested that two different rivers are referred to, the Gomal and the eastern Gomati. The Suvastu is considered the same as the Soastos of Arrian, the modern Swat, a tributary of the Kubha.
The Rig Veda has three references to the Sarayu. As with the Gomati, two different rivers could be referred to. In one passage, it is mentioned with the Rasa, Anitabha, and Kubha and could refer to the Iranian Harayu, the river Hari in Herat. It also appears with the Sarasvati and Sindhu and it is not clear here which river is implied; in another passage, Chitraratha and Arna are said to have been defeated apparently by the Turvashas and Yadus who crossed this river, but this may refer to the other Sarayu, the tributary of the Ganga. The Rasa again has three references. Its position in the Nadistuti indicates a river in the north-west. The Vendidad mentions Ranha, or Rangha, the Avestan form of Rasa (see Chapter 4). As the Anitabha is listed in one passage with the Rasa, Kubha, Krumu, and Sarayu, it must be a river somewhere near them in the northwest. The Urnavati could be a tributary of the Indus. The Mehatnu, Shvetya, and Silamavati were probably other tributaries not precisely identified.
Sushoma may be the river Sohan while the Susartu refers to another tributary of the Indus, but it is not certain which. The Trishtama is another river sometimes identified with the Gilgit, but this too is uncertain. The Yavyavati is usually identified with the river Zhob. Hariyupiya is where the Vrichivants were defeated by Abhyavartin Chayamana; it may be a place or a river; it has been identified with a town on the river Yavyavati, or with another river, possibly the Iryab (Haliab), a tributary of the Kurum or the river Hari.
Between the Parushni (Ravi) and Yamuna
Apaya, Amshumati, Ashmanvati, Asuniti, Brihadashva, Drishadvati, Raka, Sarasvati, Shipha, Shutudri, Sinivali, Vipash, Yamuna.
The Vipash is the river Beas while the Shutudri (later Shatadru) is the Satluj. The Sarasvati and Drishadvati are the main rivers here. The Sarasvati itself is described as a very large river. Some equate it with the Haraqaiti in Afghanistan but there are many indications to show that the modern Sarasvati, also known as the Ghaggar, is meant. In the enumeration of rivers, it is listed in the following order: Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Shutudri, pointing to its identification with the Ghaggar. In one passage, it is said to reach the Indus. In the Rig Veda, there are three hymns in praise of the river and several other verses. She is the greatest of rivers, flowing from the mountains. With her swift flow and mighty waves, she flattens mountain peaks. She has seven sisters or streams, and is invoked to descend from the sky. She is the best of mothers, the best of rivers, and the best of goddesses. The Sarasvati was once a much longer river, and its ancient bed can be traced. It is referred to as a large river, on which many kings and the five tribes were located. The Purus were settled on its banks. The waters of the Satluj and Yamuna probably once flowed into it. The Ghaggar today is semi-dry, beginning in the Shivalik hills to the west of the Yamuna. Its dry bed crosses Rajasthan and flows onwards as the Hakra through the Cholistan desert. Explorations of its course indicate that the Ghaggar, ancient Sarasvati, once emptied into the sea. The Indian geologists V.M.K. Puri and B.C. Verma say that the Tons formed the upper part of the river, thus it was once fed by Himalayan glaciers but, by the Bronze Age, sediments from Himalayan glaciers were missing. The Drishadvati has been identified with the Chautang, which flows parallel to the Ghaggar.
Alternatively, the Sarasvati has been identified with a dry river flowing through Gujarat. Other identifications are with a river in Afghanistan, the Haraqaiti/Harahvati, whose name corresponds with Sarasvati. However, the most likely identification is with the Ghaggar.
In later times, the same name was used for different rivers. The historical importance of the original Sarasvati led to the name being used in a generic sense for a number of sacred rivers. This use is indicated in the Mahabharata and the Puranas. According to later texts, the Sarasvati joined the Ganga and Yamuna at Prayaga. As there is no such river here, this has been taken to have a symbolic, esoteric meaning.
The Apaya is a river located between the Sarasvati and the Drishadvati. It has been identified with a minor river flowing past Thanesar, or with the Indramati farther west, or the lower Khand river, a tributary of the Sarasvati. Other smaller streams here include the Asuniti, Amshumati, Ashmanvati, Brihadashva, Raka, and Sinivali. The Ashmanvati is possibly the Asmi or Asan, which flows in the hill regions to finally join the Yamuna. The Amshumati could be the Krishnavati, which extended from Narnaul to Rewari tahsil in Haryana. Its old course is marked by a dry riverbed. The Asuniti is probably a stream which branched off from the Yamuna near Panipat, and joined the Anumati near Gohana in district Rohtak (Haryana).
The Brihadashva has been identified with a stream that runs parallel between the Rakshi and Sarasvati. The Raka has been identified with the Rakshi which joins the lower Chautang, and the Sinivali, with the Soma or Sombh. It joins the Boli and West Yamuna canal. The Shipha is an unknown river.
The Yamuna and the Rivers to the East
Yamuna, Ganga, Sarayu, Gomati.
The Yamuna is mentioned three times in the Rig Veda, and several times later. In the Rig, the Tritsus and Sudas won a battle against their foes on the Yamuna.
The Ganga is mentioned in the Nadistuti. There is also a reference to Gangeyah, an epithet of Urukaksha, who may be a person from the region of the Ganga. The Ganga does not occur in the other Samhitas.
Two other rivers, which may have been in this region, are the Gomati and Sarayu. Each of these possibly refers to two different rivers in different contexts: as tributaries of the Indus in Afghanistan, and as tributaries of the Ganga.
It is interesting that the Yamuna probably once flowed to the west of the present river. According to Raikes, the old bed of the Yamuna divulged westwards near Indri (25 km north of Karnal in Haryana) to join the course now occupied by the Sirsa canal. Suraj Bhan traced a 400-m-wide depression of coarse grey sand similar to that of the Yamuna bed. This runs in a meandering course along the West Yamuna canal and continues south-east until it is obliterated by the desert. The Burhi Nadi, today a branch of the Yamuna to the west, was also once a much larger river.
A hymn to the Sarasvati, in which she is both a deity and a river, is given below:
This stream Sarasvati with fostering current comes forth, our sure defence, our fort of iron. As on a chariot, the flood flows on, surpassing in majesty and might all other waters.
Pure in her course from mountains to the ocean, alone of streams Sarasvati has listened. Thinking of wealth and the great world of creatures, she poured for Nahusha her milk and fatness.
Friendly to man he grew among the women, a strong young steer amid the holy ladies. He gives the fleet steed to our wealthy princes, and decks their bodies for success in battle.
May this Sarasvati be pleased and listen at this our sacrifice, auspicious Lady, When we with reverence, on our knees, implore her close-knit to wealth, most kind to those she loves.
These offerings have we made with adoration: say this, Sarasvati, and accept our praises; And, placing us under your dear protection
, may we approach you, as a tree, for shelter.
For you, O blessed Sarasvati, Vasishtha has here unbarred the doors of sacred order. Grow, Bright One, and give strength to him who praises you. Preserve us forever, ye Gods, with blessings.
(Rig Veda 7.95; based on the translation by R.T.H. Griffith)
MOUNTAINS
Giri, the term for mountain or hill, occurs frequently in the Rig Veda. It also means height and is often combined with parvata, another word for mountain. In one passage in the Rig, a hill or giri is said to be tree covered (vriksha-keshah, literally ‘with trees for hair’). Another passage says that streams proceed from the hills to the sea (samudra). Waters from the hills are also mentioned. Mountain names are rare.
In the Rig Veda, the Himalaya is referred to; Mujavant, one of its peaks, is said to be the source of Soma. Soma is said to be maujavata (‘coming from the Mujavants’) while Yaska takes it as coming from Mt Mujavant, equating it with Munjavant, a mountain in the Himalayas. Mujavant are a people in the Atharva and in the Yajur Veda. Mujavant has been identified with a low hill in Kashmir though Witzel identifies it with Muztagh Ata in Central Asia.
Sharyanavat is another mountain mentioned.
TREES AND PLANTS
The Rig Veda refers to trees in general and to parts of trees as well as to some specific trees. Vriksha is the general term for a tree. Vaya refers to a branch and valsha to a twig. Daru is a generic term for wood, such as the wood used to make a chariot pole or the wooden parts of anything, or even logs for fuel.
Among the specific trees mentioned are ashvattha, khadira, kimshuka, shalmali, shimshapa, kakambira, spandana, and syandana. The ashvattha is Ficus religiosa, the pipal tree. There are references to its berries (pippala) and to vessels made of its wood. This tree grows wild in the Shivalik hills and in the plains.
The nyagrodha (Ficus indica), the later banyan or vata, is not directly mentioned in the Rig Veda but seems to be referred to in one passage (1.24, 7). The khadira (Acacia katechu) is also mentioned. A hardwood tree, sacrificial ladles were made from it. Locally known as khair (or babul), it is a widespread tree, growing from the southern Himalayas to Andhra Pradesh in India and eastwards to Thailand.
The kimshuka (Butea monosperma) was a popular tree, also known as palasha or parna. The Rig Veda mentions that its flowers were used to decorate the bridal chariot. Butea monosperma, or the flame of the forest, is still known as palash. It is found all over the subcontinent, up to 1220 m in the Himalayas, and is native to tropical and subtropical parts of the subcontinent and to Southeast Asia. It is a dry-season deciduous tree. Palash forests once covered much of the Ganga–Yamuna doab but were cleared in the 19th century.
The shalmali (Salmalia malabarica) or silk cotton tree and its flowers (shimbala) are mentioned. Its wood was used to make bridal chariots. Shimshapa (Dalbergia sissoo), the shisham, is also known, growing up to sub-Himalayan tracts.
The identification of some trees is uncertain. Among these is the kakambira, a useful tree of some kind; according to Sayana, it literally means ‘crow-bearer’. One identification is with Anamirta cocculus, a climbing shrub, but another suggested identification is Neolamarckia cadamba or the kadam, an evergreen tropical tree in South and Southeast Asia, which grows up to 45 m tall. Spandana and syandana are possibly names of trees, which have not been clearly identified.
There are also some general terms for plants. Oshadhi and virudh were two categories of plants, the latter usually inferior. Vratati was a term for a creeper or creeping plant. Prasu was a term for the young shoots of herbs or grass used in sacrifices.
In the Rig Veda, plants are said to be fruitful (phalinah), blossoming (pushpavatih), or having flowers (pra-suvarih). Aratu (Colosanthes indica) was a plant from which the wooden axle of a chariot was made.
Soma, of course, was well known. Bhanga was a term used for it in the Rig Veda, which at this time probably meant intoxicating. Later, by the time of the Atharva Veda, it came to mean hemp. Madhu is another term used for Soma, as for anything sweet used as food or drink. Numerous identifications have been made of Soma. Common identifications are with ephedra (Amanita muscaria), the fly agaric mushroom (Perganum harmala), the mountain rue or simply bhang (cannabis) that is still used today. Kholpin identifies the Iranian haoma with Mandragora turcomanica, a type of mandrake that grows in Turkmenistan, and the Indian Soma with the Himalayan mandrake.
Apart from this, not many plants are mentioned in the Rig Veda, and some of those that are, are connected with water. These include kiyambu, the name of one of the water plants which are to grow, according to a funeral hymn in the Rig Veda, on the place where the body of the dead was burnt; it could mean ‘having some water’. Lotus flowers or blossoms known as pundarika or pushkara are referred to.
Shipala (Blyxa octandra) is another water plant that finds mention. Pakadurva (edible millet) is included with kiyambu and vyalkasha among plants to be grown on the spot where the corpse was burnt. Urvara (cucumber) is also mentioned.
Thus, the few trees and plants referred to in the Rig Veda, correspond well with those of the Indus plains and the submontane tract farther north, as well as the regions to the east and south. They are not the trees of mountainous regions and are not found in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Iran but could have existed in the north-western plains and plateaus extending into Iran.
These trees and plants are mentioned in later texts, in addition to many others.
ANIMALS
Pashu was a general term for animals, including people, but animals were also known as chatushpad (four-legged) as opposed to humans who were dvipad (two-legged). The Rig Veda also divides non-human animals into three groups: those of the air (vayavya), of the forest (aranya), and of the village (gramya).
The Rig Veda mentions a number of animals. Among the domesticated animals were goats, sheep, horses, cows and bulls, asses, dogs, buffaloes and, possibly, camels. Elephants and monkeys were also tamed. The cow was very important and there are several terms for it. Go was the word used for cow, and the many derivatives of it are discussed in Chapter 7. Among other words used were stari (barren cow), tryavi (calf, eighteen months old), and vatsa (calf).
The goat was usually known as aja, though the terms basta, chaga, and chagala were also used. Goats and sheep, ajavayah, are frequently mentioned together. The goat was associated with the god Pushan, and had a role in funeral ceremonies. Mesha (ram) or meshi (ewe) is mentioned in the Rig Veda; it can also indicate the wool of the sheep as used as a filter in the Soma sacrifice.
The horse was known as ashva, and by several other terms. References in the Rig Veda suggest that mares were preferred for drawing chariots, as they were swift and sure. Ashu, literally meaning ‘swift’, especially refers to the chariot horse. Apart from ashva, the commonest word for horse, it is also called arvant, ‘the swift’; atya, ‘the racer’ or ‘the runner’; vajin, ‘the strong’ (for pulling); sapti, ‘the runner’; and haya, ‘the speedy’. The mare is ashvaa, atyaa, arvati, vadavaa, etc.; there were horses of various colours, including harita or hari (dun), aruna, arusha, pishanga, rohita (all meaning ruddy); shyava (dark brown), and shveta (white).
Some individuals owned large numbers of horses, and one danastuti refers to a gift of 400 mares. On special occasions, horses wore ornaments of gold. Horses participated in races and, after racing, were cooled with water. They were kept in stalls and allowed to go out to graze.
The ass, known as gardabha or rasabha, is considered inferior to the horse but, among animals, the best bearer of burdens (bhara-bharitama). It is said to be dvi-retas, ‘with double seed’, which suggests its ability to produce offspring from either a mare or a female ass. It was said to have a great capacity to eat. Asses were given as gifts (dana), and hence must have been valauble. The ashvatara or mule was known as the offspring of an ass and a mare. The buffalo, mahisha (‘strong’), is mentioned in the Rig Veda. It may have been wild or tame.
The domestic buffalo deve
loped from the wild water buffalo after thousands of years of selective breeding, either in South or Southeast Asia. Asia is its native home.
The camel—ushti or ushtra—has one reference in the Rig Veda.
Gavaya (Bos gavaeus), a species of ox, is mentioned in the Rig Veda. It was probably tamed but could also be wild.
There are references to dogs. Shvan and shuni (female) are terms used for dogs. One passage indicates that dogs were used to guard houses. Dogs were also used for hunting. Sarama is mentioned as the god Indra’s dog, who acted as his messenger. The Sarameyas, descendants of Sarama, were dogs of the god Yama.
The elephant is known as mriga hastin in the Rig Veda and even in the Atharva Veda. In the Rig, it was famous for its strength and was sometimes tamed. The elephant was also described as mriga-varana, a wild and dangerous animal. Ibha seems to have been another term for an elephant. Among later terms for elephant were hastin and varana, without the addition of mriga.
Kapi (ape or monkey) occurs only once in the Rig, with reference to vrisha-kapi, the man-ape in the dialogue of Indra and Indrani; it is termed harita or tawny.
Numerous wild animals are mentioned. Among these are deer, wild ass, rhinoceros, bear, lion, hyena, jackal, wild boar, elephant, wolf, weasel (or polecat), and hare. Mriga is used in the general sense of wild animal. Eta or etah (plural), the steeds of the Maruts, are swift deer, mentioned several times in the Rig Veda; it is not clear what kind of deer they are. Harina, probably gazelle, are also mentioned. Pisha and ruru were other terms for deer, while rishya is a stag. The parasvant was possibly a rhinoceros. Riksha is a bear. Salavrika (hyena) and shasha (hare) are also mentioned.